Faith and Values: St. Paul's Lutheran Church in Allentown could close unless community rallies

HARRY FISHER / THE MORNING CALL

The Rev. Steven Shussett of St. Paul's Lutheran Church of Allentown

The Rev. Steven Shussett of St. Paul's Lutheran Church of Allentown (HARRY FISHER / THE MORNING CALL)

Rev. Steven ShussettSpecial to The Morning Call

St. Paul's helped establish ministries that will continue only “because of you”

Over the past few weeks, many people have learned about the precarious situation in which St. Paul's Lutheran Church in Allentown finds itself. Like many inner city mainline churches, its membership, though faithful, has declined for a variety of reasons. Generosity through the ages has carried the congregation far, but those resources cannot last forever. And so, like many churches, it faces the prospect of closing. Vital, if not sustainable, it remains a beautiful, worshipful place.

But unlike most churches, St. Paul's has become known as ground zero for ministry to the homeless and marginalized in Pennsylvania’s third largest city. From colleagues in community and government to Christian, Jewish and Muslim, and other faith partners, those in need knew they could come to St. Paul's for an array of services for body, mind and spirit.

Regrettably, that soon may come to an end. We are hopeful, we are trying, but we are also realistic. We are trusting in God’s resurrecting power: that the God who raised Jesus from the dead can take this dire situation and bring new life.

The BBC docudrama “The Eichmann Show” depicts the 1961 trial of Nazi leader Adolf Eichmann for crimes against humanity. Director Leo Hurwitz, disgraced and blacklisted by Sen. Joseph McCarthy, is hired to direct the international telecast of the proceedings from Jerusalem.

For months, Hurwitz focuses on Eichmann. But day after day, testimony after testimony, Eichmann shows no reaction to the horrors with which he is charged. Hurwitz is ready to quit. He feels responsible, a failure, though he is only able to televise what does or doesn’t happen.

One day while eating dinner at his hotel, its proprietor, a woman who has been cold and distant for his entire stay, sits at his table without asking. The number tattooed on her arm is clearly visible. She explains that when she first came to Jerusalem, no one listened to her death camp experience, and if they did, they didn’t believe her.

But she said the television broadcasts changed everything. Now people believed. Now people wanted to know. Now they needed to know more. “Because of you,” she said. “Because of you.” “No,” Hurwitz said, humbled. The magnitude of the situation was too much for any one person, the coverage possible only with everyone involved. “Because of you,” she said again, firmly, and with finality.

St. Paul's has been an important part of the wider effort in Allentown to care for the poor. It is a place that has been serving others since the Depression. A place that has opened its doors so that others could offer their gifts, from medicine and administration to haircuts and socks. The magnitude of the situation is too much for anyone; Jesus says, “You always have the poor with you.” Ministry to so many, with so many needs, is possible only with everyone involved.

When people say to St. Paul's, “Because of you,” it is accepted with a faithful pride, hearing Jesus saying, “Well done, good and faithful servant.” But it is with an awareness that “Because of you” is true only because of the many ways in which so many partners and volunteers have worked with and through the church.

Through St. Paul's, people have come to hear and believe the pain of homelessness. They want to know more. They need to help. Because of you, St. Paul's. Because of you.

And if this keystone does close, the only way these ministries will go on will be “because of you.” Jesus had a handful of followers, then 12, 70, 120 and by his spirit, 3,000, then 5,000. This is how we will come to see and do even greater things. We are called upon to be God’s hands and feet in the world. For these ministries to continue, it will have to be because of you, because of you, because of you.

The Rev. Steven Shussett is pastor of St. Paul's Lutheran Church of Allentown.